Justin Trudeau’s Secret Weapon
FREDERICTON—In the end, it wasn’t even close. Justin Trudeau’s Liberals romped to a majority government.
That wasn’t the outcome many people expected at the start of the long campaign. But campaigns matter, and Trudeau had a secret weapon that helped leverage his legendary last name and “nice hair.”
The selfie.
Yes, Trudeau’s selfie game was strong. In fact, you may have seen selfies with Trudeau filling your social media feeds during and after the election as your friends proudly shared their photos with Canada’s new prime minister.
“Handshakes are great for politicians but selfies are infinitely better,” said David Alston, former marketing head at Fredericton’s Radian6 one of Forbes magazine’s Top 50 CMOs on Twitter. “It captures a permanent memory, one that is shareable on social media so it reaches well beyond that individual. That’s free advertising of the best kind.”
A selfie only takes a few moments, so the political ROI is clear.
There was another big way Trudeau’s selfie strategy translated into votes according to Alston. “The number of selfies filling social media showed voters that Trudeau was accessible and likeable. Compare that with Stephen Harper, or even Thomas Mulcair, who were perhaps less accessible – voters saw this reflected in social media.”
And what did Prime Minister-designate Trudeau do the first morning after the election? He went to a Montreal Metro station and took selfies as he said thank you to voters.